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STORY: Japan has joined the race to the moon.

Early Thursday (September 7), it launched a lunar lander from a spaceport in the south of the country.

It’s officially dubbed the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM.

Less officially, it’s called the ‘moon sniper’.

That’s because Japan’s space agency, JAXA, plans to land the craft within 100 meters of its target site.

Agency President Hiroshi Yamakawa spoke after the launch:

"Until now, moon landers land where they could land on the moon. But from now on in the future, we will land on a spot where we want to land and that is what we are trying to prove."

Right now, the moon is getting to be a busy place.

Some two weeks ago a Russian probe crashed on approach.

An Indian craft then successfully landed, and deployed a rover.

Japan’s own lunar track record isn’t great.

Two landing attempts over the past year both failed.

Now there’s a lot riding on the new mission for JAXA, and Japanese industry.

The rocket that carried the lander aloft is made by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

But the country’s recent launches have been dogged by a series of failures, casting doubt on its space ambitions.

Success this time would make Japan only the fifth country to land on the lunar surface.

It would also bolster its hopes of playing a part in NASA’s planned return to the moon later this decade.

JAXA hopes the moon sniper will begin its touchdown in February next year.